'80s Metal History (March 6th)

With Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and Scorpions on the cover, Hit Parader Magazine featured "Heavy Metal Awards '84". All the bands we love are represented: Iron Maiden, RATT, Ozzy and more. This list would make a great radio station 😉 🤘

March 6, 1988: Motörhead and Manowar played The Ritz in New York City. Two of the loudest metal bands ever... Ears must have bled. Mercy!

March 6, 1987: After opening for King Diamond, Motörhead and Alice Cooper, Megadeth began headlining their first European tour with a show at London's Hammersmith Odeon, supported by Flotsam and Jetsam.

March 6, 1980: Scorpions launched the "Animal Magnetism" World Tour in Tokyo, the first of 130 dates that also included Canada for the first time.

March 6, 1983: Twisted Sister played the second of two shows at London's Marquee Club. Both nights were recorded but not released until 2011. It's the band at their heaviest and includes them playing a not yet released "You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll".

March 6, 1989: Anthrax released a cover of Trust's "Antisocial" in the UK as the second single from the album "State of Euphoria". The foreign import artwork shows the "NOT" Man riding a skateboard spray-painting "Antisocial" onto the side of a wall. Release date source: Kerrang! - March 4, 1989.

March 1987: Former Vicious Rumors and UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore released his first studio album "Mind's Eye" in the UK featuring the song "In Control". Guitar World Magazine ranked the LP third on a top ten list of shred albums. Release information source: Kerrang! ad - March 5, 1987; Kerrang! review - March 19, 1987.

With their debut album "Out Of The Cellar" in US record stores since February 17th, radio airplay for RATT was mostly in Southern California, but that began to change in early March 1984 when rock stations across America started spinning single "Round And Round". The song reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream rock chart at the end of April and then crossed over to pop, sizzling the summer as it rose to No. 12 on the Hot 100 in June that year.

Happy Birthday to Manowar founder and bassist Joey DeMaio (March 6, 1954).

Happy Birthday to former Megadeth guitarist [2008–14] Chris Broderick (March 6, 1970).

March 6, 1971: Judas Priest played their first gig in Essington, England. Formed by singer Al Atkins two years earlier, he later joined the band Freight that included guitarist Ken Downing and bassist Ian Hill and they took on the Judas Priest name.

Released on their own Leathür Records label in November 1981, Mötley Crüe had sold out the initial 900 copies made available of their debut album "Too Fast For Love" and were on to the second and third pressings of the LP, especially after this ad ran in Billboard Magazine on March 6, 1982.

March 1986: Yes, you bought the vinyl or cassette or both five months earlier, but with this killer compact new format, you had to buy it again... And you did, because it's Iron Maiden and it's "Live After Death" on CD in the UK. Kerrang! ad - March 6, 1986

March 1990: Ozzy Osbourne responded to the Archbishop of New York's anti-Metal speech with a massive middle finger... Actually, Oz took the high road. -Kerrang!

March 6, 1990: Mötley Crüe and Faster Pussycat played the Met Center in Minneapolis. "Party song after party song whistles past you..." (and Tommy Lee's drum kit) floats out on into the audience and lowers frighteningly close to their collective heads... LOOK HOW CLOSE I AM YOU MOTHERF**KERS MAN! cries Tommy Lee.:" -Kerrang!

March 1990: Skid Row were on the cover of Japan's Burrn! Magazine with a strange headline... "They're Coming To Take You Away Ha-Haaa. Ho-Hooo. He-Heee. Ha-Haaa.....Powerful And Compelling Story!" 🙃